Forgotten Giants

May 5, 2017 3:57 AM

Thomas Dambo is a Danish artist who makes huge sculptures out of recycled materials. Most recently, he constructed six giants out of recycled wood, and then hid them in the woods in Copenhagen.

More information and pictures (including some construction photos) for each of the giants can be found on his website. Still more pictures (of the giants and other work) at his instagram.

Also of note is Olav the Wolf, who isn't a giant, but is a giant wolf constructed for--and then intentionally set ablaze at --the 2015 Copenhell rock festival.

posted by mishafletch (19 comments total)

København?
posted by Meatbomb at 4:05 AM on May 5, 2017

A human activity of which I approve... how novel.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 4:19 AM on May 5, 2017 [3 favorites]

...good catch, Meatbomb. Thanks. I messaged the mods to fix it.
posted by mishafletch at 4:22 AM on May 5, 2017

I love these so much. They inject humor whether you want it or not. This is why art is important to society.
posted by yoga at 4:35 AM on May 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

Yup, I live in Copenhagen but heard about them from my bf who lives in AZ.

We might try finding one or two when he visits next week -- they're suburbs but biking distance.
posted by nat at 4:37 AM on May 5, 2017

My initial reaction was "wait, there are woods in Copenhagen? I bet they mean Christania where this sort of thing would obviously be at home .. oh wait, no, it's Vestegnen."
posted by kariebookish at 4:39 AM on May 5, 2017

Mod note: Post changed to read "Copenhagen".
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane (staff) at 5:06 AM on May 5, 2017

... and someone is going to get hurt playing around on them, and sue. Or the woods and fields in the area are going to get torn up by all sorts of visitors tramping around looking for these things, leaving even MORE trash around. And eventually either some slag will tag and/or set fire to them because why not.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 5:17 AM on May 5, 2017

Changing København to Copenhagen is hardly a correction - on the contrary!

These are awesome, and so very Danish. Imagine coming accross one of these without knowing about them in advance. This is the best possible kulturuge project.
posted by Dysk at 5:53 AM on May 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

This is quite delightful.
posted by gwint at 5:57 AM on May 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

... and someone is going to get hurt playing around on them, and sue.

This being in Denmark, that's pretty unlikely. They look much less unsafe than most playgrounds round here, to be honest, which are generally equipped with climbing frames, no safety gear whatsoever, and on hard ground or maybe a gravel pit - none of yer namby pamby soft rubber tile. Hell, the local playground where I'm from has an old rotting/rusting honest-to-god fishing trawler just dumped next to the zipline and climbing frame. There are like a million ways to injure yourself on it or set it on fire or whatever, and yet it's been there for decades, untorched, and nobody has sued. The graffiti tags wear off in Danish weather after a while and are generally of a name + name in a heart format which is pretty charming anyway.
posted by Dysk at 5:59 AM on May 5, 2017 [8 favorites]

I love Olav, and will endeavor to be happy he was here and not sad he was set on fire.
posted by Stacey at 6:01 AM on May 5, 2017

The big danger is that this will give cover for the real Danish giants, who are a menace, loving, as they do, the taste of human flesh. Ask Beowulf how to deal with them.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:36 AM on May 5, 2017 [9 favorites]

These are very cool, and so evocative of the romantic, Old World folklore I like to imagine permeates deep European forests.

And yeah, they'll have to be dismantled at some point. The Danish weather will take its toll and the splintered wood and rusted nails will become a hazard. But I imagine that will be cool, too.

Because then, seventy years hence, all of the children that are experiencing them now will be telling their wide-eyed great-grandchildren about how the legends are true: there really were giants in those woods, and there really was a troll under that bridge, and we even used to play with them, back when the world was new.
posted by darkstar at 6:43 AM on May 5, 2017 [11 favorites]

These are absolutely lovely and amazing. I envy people who can see something like these in their minds and then build it piece by piece to match. And what a fantastic idea to make the sleeping one a shelter inside! (although, perhaps because I grew up in the US southeast, my first thought was "won't it fill up with spiders and bugs in a heartbeat?")
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:29 AM on May 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

Oscar Under the Bridge has the same dead-eyed gaze that the Titans of Attack on Titan have. Kind of terrifying, really.

The rest are pretty cute though!
posted by explosion at 8:39 AM on May 5, 2017

I *heart* these. What a great project. My kids would adore coming across these in the woods. Who am I kidding, I would adore coming across these in the woods.
posted by widdershins at 9:02 AM on May 5, 2017 [3 favorites]

His previous work, "Five Tiny Fairies Made From Recycled Leaves And Twigs And Hidden In The Great Northern Forests Of Sweden", was not so successful.
posted by Devonian at 9:57 AM on May 5, 2017 [6 favorites]

There was a wooden giant figure a bit like these outside the Arts Centre at Dursley, post-weekend the Arts Centre staff had to periodically um, dis-endow it of three extra bits of wood. Doesn't that happen in Denmark? Can't find any pictures of the sculpture so I guess it's long gone.
posted by glasseyes at 6:18 PM on May 6, 2017